1One Sabbath, Jesus went to eat at the house of a prominent Pharisee, and they were watching him closely.
2Just then, a man suffering from swelling was in front of him.
3Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”
4But they remained silent. So, Jesus took the man, healed him, and sent him away.
5Then he asked them, “Which of you, if your son or an ox falls into a well, would not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?”
6They could not answer him about these things.
7When Jesus noticed how the guests were choosing the best seats, he told them a parable:
8“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the most important seat, because someone more distinguished than you might have been invited.
9Then the host who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Please move for this person.’ And you would then, with embarrassment, have to take the lowest place.
10Instead, when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest seat, so that when your host comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in front of everyone else at the table with you.
11Because everyone who uplifts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be uplifted.”
12He also said to the host who had invited him, “When you prepare a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers, your relatives, or your rich neighbors. Otherwise, they might invite you back, and that would be your only reward.
13Instead, when you give a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.
14Then you will be blessed, because they have no way to repay you. You will be repaid when the righteous are brought back to life.”
15When one of the guests at the table heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the Kingdom of God!”
16But Jesus told him, “A certain man prepared a great dinner and invited many people.
17At the time of the dinner, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’
18But they all, one after another, began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
19Another said, ‘I have bought five pairs of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please excuse me.’
20Still another said, ‘I have just gotten married, and so I cannot come.’
21The servant returned and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and told his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
22The servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and there is still room.’
23The master then told the servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country paths and urge people to come in, so that my house may be full.
24I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get to taste my dinner.’
25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. He turned and said to them,
26‘If anyone comes to me and does not put me before their father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters—yes, even their own life—they cannot be my follower.
27Whoever does not carry their own cross and follow me cannot be my follower.
28For example, if one of you wants to build a tower, wouldn’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to finish it?
29Otherwise, if you lay the foundation and are unable to complete it, everyone who sees it will make fun of you,
30saying, ‘This person started to build but couldn’t finish.’
31Or if a king is going out to wage war against another king, won’t he first sit down and consider whether he can defeat the one coming against him with twenty thousand troops, when he only has ten thousand?
32If not, while the other king is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for terms of peace.
33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my follower.
34Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again?
35It is useless for the soil or for the manure pile; people throw it away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”